Wikipedia: Cluster analysis or clustering is the assignment of a set of observations into subsets (called clusters) so that observations in the same cluster are similar in some sense

As part of our analysis of the user research, we mapped the participants onto the behavioral matrix identified. The mapping revealed clusters of people with a similar observed behavior. These clusters helped us to determine key attributes for the personas.

Nathan Shedroff is Program Director of the MBA in Design Strategy program at the California College of the Arts. His books include Experience Design 1, Making Meaning, and contributing to Richard Saul Wurman&apos;s Information Anxiety 2. Advisor for Rosenfeld Media

10.
Introduction Intro About You • What‘s your name? • What do you do for work? • What do you do for fun? • Coffee, tea or bottled water?

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Introduction Intro Goals of this workshop • Understand the basic concepts of user experience design • Experience the general process and techniques used on a design project • Review the basic deliverables an information architect develops within a project

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Background: Defining IA Background in•for•ma•tion ar•chi•tec•ture n. Navigation • The combination of organization, labeling, and navigation schemes within an information system. Interaction • The structural design of an information space to facilitate task completion and intuitive access to content. Art/Science • The art and science of structuring and classifying web sites and intranets to help people find and manage information. Discipline/ • An emerging discipline and community of Community practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web (1st Edition), p . 4, Rosenfeld and Morville

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Background: History A Brief History of IA 1975 • Richard Saul Wurman coined the term ―information architecture‖ to describe the field now more likely described as ―information design‖ 1994 • Formation of Argus Associates in Ann Arbor, WI, the first firm devoted to IA 1998 • First edition of Peter Morville and Lou Rosenfeld‘s Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, affectionately known as ―The Polar Bear‖ book

38.
Discovery: User Research User Research Through research, we aim to learn enough about the business goals, the users, and the information ecology to develop a solid strategy. – Louis Rosenfield & Peter Morville

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Discovery: User Research User Research Class Exercise: Survey Questions • How do you learn about events in NYC? • What type of events are you interested in? • What‘s more important to you: – Price – Type of Event – Location – Date • How often do you attend the events? • Do you ever need to promote an event? • Do you ever invite people to an event?

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Discovery: Competitive Review Discovery: Competitive Audit This type of assessment helps set an industry ―marker‖ by looking at what the competition is up to, what features and functionalities are standard, and how others have solved the same problems you might be tasked with. – Dorelle Rabinowitz

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Discovery: Competitive Review Competitive Review Heuristic Evaluation Ten Usability Heuristics by Jakob Nielsen • Visibility of system status • Match between system and the real world • User control and freedom • Consistency and standards • Error prevention • Recognition rather than recall • Flexibility and efficiency of use • Aesthetic and minimalist design • Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors • Help and documentation Self Study: For a more detailed explanation of these heuristics, see Nielsen‘s explanation here: http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html

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Discovery: Competitive Review Competitive Review Examples of Usability Criteria Note: These examples are not intended to provide a comprehensive listing. Appropriate criteria may depend on the project to be completed. Home Page • Are home page elements appropriately weighted and distributed? • Is information clustered in meaningful ways? Navigation • Is the navigation structure concise and consistent? • Are paths to important information intuitive and unobstructed? Content • Is content current? Are there visible indications of content freshness? • Is content properly adapted for the Web? Is tone of voice consistent throughout content? Is content chunked appropriately? • Are headings and title scannable? Design • Are colors appropriate to the Web? Is white space used appropriately? Is text readable? Search • Are search results relevant and cleanly presented? Functionality • Are functionality and forms efficiently designed? Messaging • Are errors messages clear on the site? Is help readily available to users? • Are there appropriate means for user feedback?

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Discovery: Competitive Review Competitive Review What else have we learned? • Who are the audiences of these sites? • What are the strengths of these sites? • What are their weaknesses? • How might another event site differentiate itself from these sites?

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Personas Personas is a component of the Metropath(ologies) exhibit, recently on display at the MIT Museum by the Sociable Media Group from the MIT Media Lab . It uses sophisticated natural language processing and the Internet to create a data portrait of ones aggregated online identity. In short, Personas showsCreated at Personas: http://personas.media.mit.edu you how the Internet sees you.

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Definition: Personas Personas Personas summarize user research findings and bring that research to life in such a way that everyone can make decisions based on these personas, not based on themselves. – Steve Mulder

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Definition: Personas Personas Jenny, 33 The professional promoter Location: Williamsburg Attitude: Busy, disciplined, professional Financial Perspective: Healthy budget for promotions and advertising Online Habits: Heavy use of social networking sites both professionally and personally, shops online Big Budget Events: Small gigs, big concerts, DJ sets Quote: Promoter Planned ―I manage a few bands and DJs and I have to ensure they‘re listed in the right, targeted places.‖ Small Budget

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Definition: Personas Class Exercise: Personas Jerry Jenny Donny Sabrina In regards to Events.com, • What tasks might each persona attempt to complete on Events.com? • What features can you imagine each persona might like on such a site? • What obstacles or pain points might they encounter?

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Definition: Card Sorting Card Sorting There are often better ways to organize data than the traditional ones that first occur to us. Each organization of the same set of data expresses different attributes and messages. It is also important to experiment, reflect, and choose which organization best communicates our messages. – Nathan Shedroff, Experience Strategist

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Design: Site Maps Conceptual Design A site map is a high level diagram showing the hierarchy of a system. Site maps reflect the information structure, but are not necessarily indicative of the navigation structure. - Step Two Designs

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Design: Site Maps Conceptual Design Site map for Men‗s section of designer clothing site

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Design: Grids Grids The true benefit of using a grid is that as you learn how to use a grid, you start to think systemically about the solutions you design. You start to try and see how various details can echo one another, how different regions of the canvas can be reused or used for similar things, how like elements can be grouped together. – Khoi Vinh, former design Director, NYTimes.com

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Design: Sketching Sketching Any guesses what this is a sketch of?

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Design: Sketching Sketching Twitter [This sketch] has very special significance – its hanging in the office somewhere with one other page. Whenever Im thinking about something, I really like to take out the yellow notepad and get it down. – Jack Dorsey, Twitter “twttr sketch‖ Twitter.com

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Design: Sketching Design: Sketching Class Exercise: Sketching In teams, sketch your ideas. 1) Create & Promote an Event - Take 5 or so minutes first to discuss what features belong here - Is it a single page? Multiples steps?

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Design: Wireframes Design: Sketching Class Exercise: Final Wireframe In your teams, create your final deliverable. Assign one of the following to a team member: 1) Create & Promote an Event 2) Event Detail 3) Homepage As an individual now, you‘ll create a final ―wireframe,‖ which incorporates your team mates‘ designs and feedback.